Willy Porter returns to Steel City

There is no mistaking the passion and intensity that singer songwriter Willy Porter routinely brings to a song. Whether he is touching on the comedic side of humanity or more serious subject matter, Porter’s songs define life.

A self-proclaimed guitarist first and foremost, Porter’s captivating vocals enhance his masterful musical composition. He has earned the praise of Sting, Jeff Beck, Paul Simon, Tori Amos and Jethro Tull, with all of whom he has shared the concert stage.

Following the release of his most recent highly regarded masterpiece, “Cheeseburgers & Gasoline” (2012), Porter is currently completing his next yet-to-be-titled album. “I was very pleased with ‘Cheeseburgers and Gasoline,’ says Porter. It represented some music that didn’t fit on this new band record. It showed me evolving in a relationship with another singer songwriter named Carmen Nickerson. She and I had been able to do a bunch of stuff on that record that we had been doing in live shows. Fans seemed to respond well to it, and it’s carrying things forward if you will. “I’m just finishing the album now,” added Porter. “It is a band record, in that the musicians that played on the last three studio albums are all back again. It’s really great to have been able to keep that lineup of musicians together.

“This record is more of a high-energy affair. It’s definitely an electric kind of a thing. The songs are in some way structurally simpler than what I sometimes do on my own in that they’re more open for other players to add inflection and voice in their own way It’s more of a pop thing than the acoustic stuff.” A veteran of Milwaukee, Wisc.’s fertile music scene, the same town that gave us the Violent Femmes and the Bo Deans, Porter established his musical imprint by working the city’s club circuit. His debut album, “The Trees Have Soul,” was released in 1990, although it was his critically acclaimed album “Dog-Eared Dream” (1994) that garnered attention on the strength of the single “Angry Word.” Concert tours with the aforementioned artists followed, giving Porter the high visibility he needed to take his career to international prominence. Signing first with BMG/Private Music, followed by Six Degrees Records, Porter released three more albums before forming his own record label, Weasel Records, with his manager Chris Webb in the late ’90s. Reminiscing about opening for Jethro Tull, Porter recalls a bond he developed with the band’s legendary guitarist Martin Barre.

“I did a tour with Martin,” recalls Porter. “It was everybody in Tull and me, minus Ian Anderson. It was fantastic. I learned so much about music from Martin and his band. Playing rhythm guitar behind a player at that level opened my mind up so much. It really changed the way I looked at the guitar.” Recognizing the importance of a memorable live show, Porter has long set the stage for what has become foundation of his survival — the value a live audience brings to the table. “The show is more about what’s happening in the room,” says Porter. “There’s everything from dealing with things that are funny about us as human beings to unconditional love, which is something we’re all seeking. I hope the songs can act as little time capsules to help us celebrate our feelings and what makes us great together.”

While Porter’s well-deserved popularity as an indie artist has earned him a loyal following, he is not disappointed by the commercial success that eludes him. “I consider myself lucky to be doing what I’m doing,” says Porter. “I’m kind of a journeyman. I’ve been doing this a long time, but I still feel like a student. I still look at the guitar, and it challenges me, and music challenges me to dig deeper and try to express more honestly, more clearly.

“That has probably been the best part of my quest. I’m just trying to learn and trying to get better and trying to observe. To still have an audience and be able to tour and do what I love to do, I have nothing but gratitude.”